Gadgets and Gizmos

A thread for new tech that you see in the news.

The record for largest microSD card has been set again.
UK company Integral Memory today announced a 512GB microSD card, which is officially the largest microSD card that’s been introduced to date. The previous record holder was SanDisk’s 400GB microSD card that launched last year.
Integral’s 512GB microSD card meets Video Speed Class 10 (V10) and UHS-I U1 standards and offers transfer speeds up to 80MB/s. It’ll launch in February 2018 for an undisclosed price. Whatever the price ends up being, it’s probably not going to be cheap, but it’ll be pretty cool to add half a terabyte of storage to your phone just by popping in a tiny microSD card.
Are you thinking about buying this new 512GB microSD card?

NEW YORK—DJI on Tuesday announced the latest entry in its popular line of consumer drones: the Mavic Air.
The Chinese firm, which is estimated to hold around 70 percent of the consumer drone market, showcased the new device at an event in New York City. It’ll start at $799, which is $400 more than the Spark’s current going rate and $200 below the cost of a new Mavic Pro. The entry-level package does include a dedicated controller, though, albeit one without an integrated display. A $999 package that includes extra batteries, a charging hub, and other accessories will also be available. The Mavic Air is available for pre-order today, and DJI says the device will start shipping on January 28.

At first blush, the Mavic Air appears to find a middle ground between DJI’s beginner-friendly Spark drone and its pricier but more technically capable Mavic Pro. Like both of those devices, the Mavic Air is small—at 168x184x64mm, it’s a bit larger than the Spark but smaller than the Mavic Pro. Like the latter, its arms can be folded inward, which should make it relatively easy to pack and transport. Its design doesn’t stray too far from the past, either, with the rounded, swooping lines of its chassis punctuated by stubby, Spark-like propeller arms.

The whole thing weighs 430 grams, which is much lighter than the Mavic Pro's 734g and a bit heavier than the Spark's 300g chassis. DJI says it can reach up to 42.5 miles per hour in its "sport" mode, which is faster than both the Spark (30mph) and Mavic Pro (40mph). It has a flight range of 2.5 miles with the included controller—provided you keep it in your line of sight—which is closer to the Spark than the Pro. With a smartphone, that range drops to 262 feet, the same as the Spark. DJI says it can fly stably in winds up to 22mph, the same as the Mavic Pro.

After more than three years of ruling the consumer SATA SSD market, the Samsung 850 series is being replaced. The 850 PRO and 850 EVO that first brought 3D NAND flash memory to the consumer SSD market are being retired to make room for the new 860 PRO and 860 EVO SSDs. The new 860 drives are not revolutionary the way the 850s were, but instead represent continued evolution of Samsung's SSD technology.The 850 series, while a rock of the SATA SSD market, has not remained unchanged from its introduction in 2014. In mid 2015, Samsung introduced 2TB models of the 850 PRO and 850 EVO, and inside the new models was an updated controller with support for enough LPDDR3 DRAM to manage 2TB of flash. In 2016, Samsung updated the entire 850 series to use their third-generation 48-layer 3D NAND. This new NAND didn't bring any significant performance changes, but because the capacity per die doubled, the available drive capacity options shifted: the 120GB and 128GB models were retired, and a 4TB 850 EVO was introduced. A 4TB 850 PRO was promised, but never shipped: disappointing yields from Samsung's 48L 3D NAND helped kick off an industry-wide shortage of NAND flash memory that drove prices way up and guaranteed a 4TB 850 PRO would nearly impossible to sell profitably.

The technological changes the 860 series brings are no bigger than what the 850 series has already undergone. The NAND flash memory is updated once again, this time to Samsung's 64-layer 3D NAND. The whole product line is moving over to the latest MJX SSD controller, and the DRAM used will now be LPDDR4. The 4TB PRO model is finally being released, but there are no further capacity increases coming at this time, and the entry level is still the same 250/256GB.Looking at the numbers, the performance specifications are barely changed from the 850 series, and this is because the SATA interface hasn't gotten any faster since the 850 was introduced. The write endurance ratings have been simplified however: write endurance is now proportional to drive capacity even at the high end, and the 860 PRO's endurance is twice that of the 860 EVO's at each capacity point.The most notable change is the reduction of the PRO's warranty period from the outstanding 10 years down to the same 5 years as the 860 EVO. The other big surprise is that there will be mSATA versions of the 860 EVO; this is the first major new mSATA SSD in a long time, as most product lines have abandoned it in favor of M.2 SATA. The 860 EVO will introduce a 2TB option to Samsung's M.2 SATA lineup.

For the first few years, the Samsung 850 PRO and 850 EVO were essentially unchallenged in the SATA SSD market. All of their most successful competitors were slower and cheaper, because nobody could match Samsung's performance. That changed in 2017 when several of Samsung's biggest competitors beat them to the introduction of 64L 3D NAND in the consumer SATA market. Drives like the Intel 545s, SanDisk Ultra3D and Crucial MX500 have renewed competition for mainstream consumer SSDs by matching or beating Samsung's performance while putting pressure on their pricing. Samsung's response is due. By keeping the MLC-based PRO tier while their competition is almost entirely switching to TLC NAND, Samsung will likely hold on to some performance crowns with their premium product, and they'll have the highest write endurance. But the more mainstream 860 EVO will have to fight for its place in the market.Samsung's decision to keep the PRO tier around and based on MLC NAND signals that they will almost certainly do the same for their PCIe SSDs. Whatever they introduce as the successor to the 960 PRO will probably stand out from the crowd in a way that their premium SATA SSDs cannot. Samsung's NVMe SSD controllers still seem to be the fastest options, though competitors like Silicon Motion and Phison are starting to catch up.

If there was one particular superpower that I would love to have, it would be the ability to be able to decipher and understand all languages. It makes communication far easier, and it will certainly be a bridge among different people groups and tribes. While the science fiction utopia of having a form of AI (Artificial Intelligence) handle all of our different languages and dialect nuances remains just that, the AIcorrect Translator might be on to something with its debut at the recently concluded CES 2018.The AIcorrect Translator is truly special in the sense that it supports real-time mutual voice translation between Chinese/English, not to mention another 30 different languages. Chinese is notoriously difficult to master, where a single character has multiple meanings based on the intonation used, and machine translation like Google Translate have not yet achieved a kind of understandable and decent degree of translation to date.The AIcorrect Translator will work around issues and challenges faced in cross-linguistic communication. With real-time mutual translation support in multiple situations between Chinese/English and other languages such as Japanese, Korean, Thai, French, Russian and Spanish, it claims to achieve a translation quality that is as high as 96%. The device itself comes with a touch screen, and both transcription and translation will be displayed simultaneously. When there are up to a quartet of devices hooked up, AIcorrect Translator supports conversation in up to four different languages, now how about that for amazing?We do hope that the AIcorrect Translator will be able to have the battery life that can last for an entire working day, as we slowly but surely approach the moment when everyone is able to understand one another perfectly well without having to learn the language from scratch. Some might say it will make us lazy, but others on the opposite end of the spectrum will call it efficiency in doing things at the highest level.

In todayís edition of ďSilly Things That Are Actually Kind of Useful,Ē we have a $9 beanie with tiny Bluetooth speakers built right in. Iím sure the sound quality isnít amazing, but it should be adequate for listening to podcasts, or even some summery songs to make you feel less cold and miserable over the next month or so.

Do you have $500 lying around and want to spend it on something that will, inevitably, lead to a much costlier disaster? Elon Musk has you covered.

His Boring Company—yes, that’s the one that digs tunnels—has released a flamethrower for some reason that probably has more to do with branding than a pivot to manufacturing more kinds of destructive devices than just gigantic drills. It’s not really a flamethrower so much as a very large torch, but it’s shaped like a flamethrower and gets what looks like a few feet of range, so we’ll throw Musk a bone here.

Per TechCrunch, Musk’s flamethrower costs $500 plus taxes, shipping, and any applicable fees, and is now available to pre-order on the Boring Company website. According to the website, users will be required to sign a “terms and conditions rhyme” and additionally must certify that the flamethrower “May not be used on Boring Company decorative lacquered hay bales or Boring Company dockside munitions warehouses.”

For an extra $30, those proud new flamethrower owners can “Buy an overpriced Boring Company fire extinguisher!”

In one post, Musk noted that he wants “to be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don’t buy one. Unless you like fun.” Then he charged at what was presumably one of his employees shooting flame, which seems like fun for Musk but maybe not all that safe for said employee.

Is this legal? Probably! It’s doubtful that Musk’s device meets the statutory requirements to be legally considered a flamethrower, and actual flamethrowers are apparently legal in 48 states and only restricted in California and Maryland, per the Washington Post. That said, it’s not hard to see how you use this particular device could easily be the dividing line between you and consequences.

Either way, it’s good to see Musk and the Boring Company are well on their way to becoming the backstory of Portal.

Well this is pure genius. Apart from the water that will go into it, obviously. So you should probably stick to American beer so the taste doesn't change noticeably.

This is the $15 Sudski, a silicone beer can holder designed for use in the shower. You just peel off the protective backing, stick it to a smooth shiny surface, wait 24 hours, and it's showerbeer time! They do not recommend using the holder for bottles though, which makes sense because a broken bottle in the shower was one of the worst days of my life. Also, whoever seriously needs a beer holder in the shower has got a problem. And that problem is not having a mini-fridge in their shower. It's a cooler AND a table. One time I was in there for six hours.Keep going for a couple more shots including another one of this guy, who I'm fairly certain uses bubble bath for body wash. And forgot to turn the water on.

If you're a big fan of Escape from New York and you've got $400 to drop...

Whether youíre trapped on a futuristic island prison full of blood-thirsty gang members or simply stuck in a two-hour meeting, the LifeClock One might be the watch for you. Inspired by the movie Escape From New York starring Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, the watch is an homage to Plisskenís wrist-worn LifeClock, a device that would trigger the an injection of micro-explosives in his arteries if he failed his mission. And you thought you had deadlines.

Escape From New York is a pretty wild movie and this is a pretty wild watch.

Jonathan Zufi created the $399 timepiece when he watched the John Carpenter classic and mused on the idea of creating his own LifeClock. Before running a successful Kickstarter he received permission to create the product and add Plisskenís likeness and many prop-quality details to the smartwatch. Now you can buy either a model based directly on the original movie prop or even have Snake himself engraved on the back of your watch, thereby immortalizing Kurt Russell in his most important role after Big Trouble In Little China.

The watch itself is surprisingly cool. It has a 79mm case made of milled brass and contains six custom 11-segment LEDs that displays the current time, world time, and it can even count your steps and receive push notifications from your phone. The watch is rechargeable via an included USB cable and lasts three days on one charge. It comes on a leather band with a buckle or velcro closure system.

The watch is also huge. Itís big even for me, and to read it you have to press one of the buttons on the side, lighting up the LEDs for a moment as you either scroll through features or assess how much time you have to save the president before you explode. Itís definitely an acquired taste and itís a funny commentary on smart watches in general. After all, getting rolling phone notifications on a massive LED screen is hilarious.It comes in black PVD-coated metal and this Gullfire edition looks far less like a steampunk throwback than the brass edition. Both watches are beautifully finished and are, for the size, quite comfortable.
While I was never a huge fan of the movie, a piece like this will make true John Carpenter fans feel like they can, someday, land in a heavily-guarded super-max prison island on a stealth glider and save the president from certain doom. Barring that, the watch is a great, informal piece for those who like something massive and wildly retro on their wrists.

Over the last few months, Google has been expanding the types of devices that are capable of running their AI-powered Google Assistant. When first introduced, the Google Assistant was an exclusive to Pixel smartphones. However, Google quickly figured out that it would be a better strategy to make it available in as ubiquitous a manner as possible, especially to stave off Amazon’s Alexa from controlling the assistant market. Adding Google Assistant to other Google devices like their Home branded smart speakers was an easy step. Their latest move to make Google Assistant available through their Chrome OS operating system points to even greater availability.

Last year Google made the Google Assistant available on their new Pixelbook laptop, their top-of-the-line Chromebook. At the same time, Google has worked with partners producing goods like speakers, smart displays and headphone to add native support for the Google Assistant. Google also opened the door to older Android smartphones being able to run the Google Assistant.With the move to add support for Google Assistant to Chrome OS, the company will make it possible for owners of Chromebooks other than the expensive Pixelbook to access the assistant. This is very similar to their move to make it available on older smartphones.

In examining some of the code that is available for a pending Chrome OS update, it appears the Google Assistant will be turned off by default so that OEMs can decide whether they want to make it available. In addition, if it is turned on by Chromebook manufacturer, they can also decide whether it will be something triggered by a hot word or if it will also or only launch through a physical button press.

If you've got $800 to drop here's a Casio that will guide you home from the boozer.

When it comes to rugged and tough timepieces, one particular name stands out from the Casio brand, and that would be the G-Shock family. Over the years, there has been many different kinds of G-Shock timepieces that have stood the test of time, but just how many iterations and designs can you churn out without moving on with the times? This is exactly what the latest Rangeman watch from Casio tackles, where the Casio Rangeman GPR-B1000 will boast of being the world’s first solar-assisted GPS navigation, arriving in a couple of models.Those who are interested ought to know that the Rangeman happens to be part of the “Master of G” series of watches that has been specially designed for use in the most extreme conditions. With the GPR-B1000, it will incorporate the Triple Sensor that can measure compass bearing, atmospheric pressure/altitude, and temperature, all based on the concept of “Survival Toughness.”Not only that, the new GPR-B1000 is also capable of GPS navigation, making this the very first of its kind for a G-Shock watch. The GPR-B1000 will be able to collect location data from GPS satellites where it displays the current location on a route or bearing to a destination, and all of it is done in real-time. It is also exciting to know that watch can save track and point data (including longitude/latitude, altitude, and temperature) in its own memory. Riding on a Bluetooth connection, the timepiece pairs itself with a smartphone to hook up to the G-Shock Connected app. This app opens the door for the user to create routes or manage log data in the app. Apart from that, tracks and point data saved in memory can also be shown on a 3D map or as a timeline, in addition to picking up data from time servers to keep accurate time anywhere in the world.It will boast of wireless and solar charging systems, while the GPS functions will work for up to 33 hours on a wireless charge that takes around five hours.The GPRB1000-1 and GPRB1000-1B will cost $800 apiece when it arrives later this April.

Android today dominates the tech world. You can find it on smartphones, tablets, watches, smart TVs and more. But did you know there’s a new product category in town? Android-powered scooters, yep!French tech device maker Archos, which is mostly known for its affordable tablets just unveiled the industry’s first Android scooter.Dubbed the Citee Connect, the urban transport device has a 5-inch display (or dashboard) built-into the handlebars. It’s powered by a quad-core processor, aided by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of flash memory and offers 3G support. Ironically, unlike most phones launching these days, it comes with Android Oreo pre-installed.

The display serves as a means to access navigation or traveling apps like Google Maps, TripAdvisor and more. You could, in theory at least, download and install any apps your heart desires including the distracting Facebook, WhatsApp or YouTube. But it wouldn’t be too safe.

Apart from the Android-powered display, the Citee Connect looks like any other scooter on the market. It’s mostly black with a few green accents here and there and is made of aluminum.The electric scooter features large puncture-proof 8.5-inch wheels, a 250W motor, and a 36 battery. Archos notes that the gizmo can reach a speed between 22 and 25 km/h/15.5 mph. Given its light frame, the Citee Connect has a range of 25 km/15.5 miles on a single charge. Low on battery? The scooter can recharge the battery with each braking. The product can also be charged via a docking station.The producing company says the Citee Connect can withstand up to 100 kg / 220 lbs of weight, so it should be able to accommodate most urban commuters.

The scooter can be folded easily, thanks to a dedicated latch, and weighs less than 12 kg, so it can be carried off.Archos will be showing the Citee Connect at MWC 2018 come next week, but the product won’t be released until this summer. We expect the scooter to go on sale for €499.99 (approximately $617).

Just imagine, your friends will be able to hear your last words as a drunken somchai ploughs into you at high speed.

(Image at the link because I can't be arsed with Pinterest)

We all know that riding a motorbike can be a very exhilarating experience, when you have the cool breeze flying in your face as you zip by a gridlock of vehicles. Well, it goes without saying that wearing a helmet is of utmost importance in terms of safety, since your skull might be hard enough to handle some minor knocks, but a full-on collision? Good luck with that. Sena and Shoei have decided to bring together their respective fields of expertise by unveiling the Neotec II, an all-new motorbike helmet that is perfect for communications while you are on the road.

The SRL Communication System for the Neotec II is truly unique, since this is a specially developed, SENA-exclusive SRL Bluetooth Communication System that was specially designed for seamless integration with such a helmet. When installed, the SRL is virtually undetectable when seen from the outside of the helmet, and it requires just three buttons to control it overall. You will be able to chat with other riders through a Bluetooth intercom, or tune in to your favorite music, and even hear turn-by-turn GPS directions, among others, using the the SRL.The Neotec II comes across as an every-occasion helmet that has the adaptability to excel regardless of where your next journey brings you. It will boast of a convenient “flip-up” versatility that makes it a true two-in-one helmet merged with next-level aerodynamics, an internal sun shield, Pinlock EVO fog-resistant system, and the ability to seamlessly integrate with the all-new SENA SRL (SHOEI Rider Link) Communication System, making the Neotec II one of the pinnacles of modular helmet design when it comes to today’s discerning hybrid motorcyclists.Moichi Tsuzuki, President of SHOEI North America, shared, “We are excited to see Sena introduce a truly integrated communication system that has been specially designed for the Neotec II. The fact that there is no compromise to the appearance of our helmet nor the aerodynamic performance, including wind noise, is very exciting! Sena’s well-known history and innovative product design will no doubt positively enhance each rider’s experience on any journey.”